No One is Safe
by super.nerd49
Summary: James plays a trick on Lily on Halloween, but will he soon regret it? Halloween oneshot, next gen. fic, enjoy! T 'cause I'm paranoid ... or paranormal? o.O


**© J.K. Rowling**

* * *

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!" Lily was glaring at her older brother, who was grinning.

He laughed. "Aww, c'mon, Lil, it's Halloween. Live a little, have a laugh." James nudged her with his elbow.

"That was not funny, James!" She huffed, still a little scared from the prank her brother had pulled. When he said nothing, she turned and stalked away, back to Gryffindor tower.

James turned back to his friends, who were laughing. "Nice one, Potter." They walked outside into the chilly air, where the Hufflepuffs were having Quidditch practice. James itched to run up to Gryffindor tower and grab his broom.

"JAMES!" For the second time that hour, his name was shouted for everyone to hear. He looked around to see Rose stalking towards him, red hair flaming, looking murderous. Scorpius Malfoy trailed behind her, not wanting to be anywhere near her wrath.

"Yes, Rosie?"

She stopped right in front of him and narrowed her eyes. "Lily's first year, and you terrify her? Really, James?"

The fifth year Gryffindor shrugged. "It was pretty funny, if I do say so." She glared at him. "Aww, c'mon Rosie, I was just having some fun with my little sister."

Then, of all things, she laughed wickedly. Scorpius took a few steps back, as did James' friends. "You watch your back, James Sirius Potter." She turned and walked away. Scorpius shrugged and turned to follow his girlfriend back to the castle.

"James, mate, your cousins scare me," one of his friends commented.

James turned to look at his friends. "They scare everyone, including me."

* * *

James had forgotten about Rose's threat by lunch, and was having a fantastic day with his friends. So far, they'd frightened three other first-years, flirted with several girls of various ages, and played a small game of Quidditch.

They were so lucky Halloween fell on a weekend this year.

James took a bite of his lunch just as an unknown owl flew overhead and dropped a note on his lap. He set down his fork and glanced at his friends before opening it.

Three words were written in an untidy scrawl.

_Leave me alone._

James looked around, but saw no one looking suspicious. He showed it to his friends, who shrugged. He pocketed it, unsure of its meaning, and he forgot about it. He continued his lunch, and then he and his friends went to terrorize more first-years.

* * *

"James, look." His friend handed him a note that had been tacked to the wall. It said JAMES POTTER in block letters. He turned it over.

_Always watching ... no eyes._

"Where are these coming from?" he asked, looking around. They were the only ones in the corridor.

"Maybe its just a game someone's playing."

He pocketed this note too. "Maybe."

* * *

Back outside, this time near the lake, they settled down beneath a tree, watching as the giant squid floated on top of the water, enjoying the last of the warmth. As they sat, James cast his gaze about.

There was only a few Ravenclaws near the doors, and no one else in the vicinity. As he continued to look, a he saw something white on a tree a few meters away from them.

"Had that been there before?" he asked, standing up and moving to look at the white, which he realized was parchment. He hadn't noticed it before.

"No, I don't think it was."

This also said his name in large block letters. On the other side:

_Can't run. Follows._

"James, is someone stalking you?"

He shrugged it off and laughed. "No, it's fine. Someone's just playing a little prank. We'll find out and give 'em hell, won't we?"

They all laughed and continued to relax under the tree. James didn't let on that he was getting a little freaked out.

* * *

They were relaxing in the Gryffindor common room, and had been for the past fifteen minutes. As they sat, another owl flew through the open window and landed on the arm of James' chair. He definitely didn't know this owl.

The owl stuck out its leg and James saw a note attached. He untied it, and the owl flew away. Gulping nervously, he unrolled the parchment.

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no._ This one was accompanied by a drawing of a stick figure, wearing what seemed to be a suit, and with very long arms and no face.

"What is this?!" James exclaimed, bringing his friends away from their game of Wizards Chess.

"This is weird, mate."

"Very weird," he agreed.

As he pocketed the note, and began to relax in his chair, he noticed something outside. Something that shouldn't be there.

A tall man wearing a black suit was just visible in the trees of the Forbidden Forest. As James stared, the image of the man grew fuzzier. When he blinked, the man had vanished.

"What was that?" he asked out loud.

No one else had seen the man. James blamed lack of food.

* * *

They still had an hour before dinner, and James had some homework to finish. As he sat at the common room table, he blew his untidy hair out of his face. He looked back down at his Potions essay, and saw a different piece of paper there.

He was the only one in the common room.

He flipped it over, and gasped.

_Don't look or it takes you._

He had had enough of this. James stood up and looked around. He really was alone - no, a man was standing in the corner of the common room, stock still. The same man that had been standing outside half an hour earlier. James now saw that he was very tall, and had _no face_.

As he blinked, the man vanished once again.

He looked back down at the note. "Don't look or it takes you..."

He was in trouble.

* * *

They had all settled in for the Halloween feast. James looked down the table to see Al missing, but that was it. Everyone else was accounted for. When he asked Hugo, who was closest to him, he said that Al was finishing something up.

James looked down the table at Lily, who still hadn't forgiven him for his prank that morning, then at Rose, who would usually be talking to Scorpius over at the Ravenclaw table.

He looked around. Scorpius wasn't even _at_ the Ravenclaw table.

His friend nudged him, and he looked over. He was instructed to look at his plate. A piece of parchment was sitting there, and it hadn't been before.

_Help me. _

This was accompanied by another picture, this one of the same man in a black suit with no face, surrounded by trees.

James looked around, and asked where the note had come from. His mates said it had just appeared there.

He looked up at the head table, where Professor Longbottom was chatting animatedly with one of the other teachers. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except...

There was the man, in the corner behind the head's table. James jumped, and then pointed him out to his friends. They asked him what he was talking about.

"Look, he's right there, seven feet tall, no face, in a black suit..." The man had vanished.

James was thoroughly shaken now. He knew he was pale, and his friends just told him he was hungry. Needed some food in him.

Minutes later, Al and Scorp strode through the doors and sat down at their respective tables. Al greeted James happily, and then listened intently to the speech. James couldn't hear a word, his heart was hammering in his ears.

What sort of man - thing - could be so obvious, but only he could see it. What could it be?

"James, eat something, you're freaking us out." James ate slowly, still thinking things through.

* * *

As the last of the feast was cleared from their plates, a scrap of parchment fluttered onto James' plate. He stared at it, afraid to open it. What now? he thought hopelessly.

Seeing the fear on his friend's face, his mate picked up the note and unfolded it for him, reading it quickly. He handed it to James.

_Even if you win, it still finds you. No one is safe from it. You can't run, and you can't hide. It'll catch you. No one is safe from The Slender Man._

"No one is safe from The Slender Man..." James repeated.

They were dismissed from the feast then, and he and his friends took their usual route back to the tower, through a back passage. James was terrified now, looking around every corner before turning, peering into shadows, his wand clenched in his hand, inside his robes.

He turned a corner and suddenly found himself very alone. He looked back, his friends had disappeared. "Oh, come on guys, very funny," he said aloud, but no one replied. He decided to just go on his way.

He turned another corner and nearly ran into someone ... some_thing_.

James yelped and backed away.

It was taller than seven feet, much taller. The suit was a crisp black, and his face was smooth, with no eyes, nose or mouth. It seemed to be staring at him.

Its torso was longer than it should have been, its arms _much_ too long, and there were too many of them.

James tripped and ended up on his back. "No one is safe from The Slender Man..." James repeated, and knew those would be his last words. He squeezed his eyes shut, and nothing happened for several seconds. He opened them again, and the blank face was right in his.

He screamed again, and shut his eyes for the second time.

And then he heard laughter.

James slowly opened his eyes to see Al, Rose, Lily, Hugo and his friends all laughing hysterically, while The Slender Man backed away.

Al waved his wand and it shrunk to six feet tall, its arms became shorter, and the extras disappeared, as did the suit. Facial features began to appear, and hair sprouted from its head ...

... until Scorpius stood in its place.

James scrambled to his feet, confused. Lily, still laughing, their father's invisibility cloak on her arm, approached James. "You should have seen your face!"

"That is how you get payback! Nice job, Scorp!" Rose pecked her boyfriend's cheek, and he grinned.

Al clapped him on the shoulder. "Happy Halloween, James."

* * *

**A/N: Anyone guess what was going on when the notes came? If so, you're a crapload braver than I am, I had to Google them. Like ****_hell_**** I'm playing Slender...**

**So, I don't own The Slender Man... *shiver* I think those were some (or all) of the manuscripts you have to find in the game. I added that extra last one, just in case someone didn't get what was going on.**

**I hope it all makes sense, and that I scared you a little!**

**Happy Halloween! :[**

**~ nerdy**


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